One downside of spending a lot of time gambling is that you spend a lot of time around gamblers. I don’t know why, but casinos turn perfectly normal people into the kind of folks you’d run into at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

So perhaps this story is about how I don’t trust people in Atlantic City.

I arrived in AC on a casino bus that dropped me off at Bally’s with a play voucher, so I camped out at a full pay Jacks or Better machine before heading off to my actual hotel. I was leaving $40 to the good an hour later, riding the PeopleMover to Pacific Avenue, when this happened. My thoughts in italics.

Guy behind me, in a thick East African accent: “Hey, were you just playing slots?”

Me, taking out headphones: “No, video poker.”

Guy: “<incomprehensible> leave phone?”

Me: “No.” The last time I saw my phone, it was sitting on my luggage, I might have dropped it….

Guy: “Someone said they found a phone. <I think, it’s still hard to tell the exact words>”

Me: “Shit.” Patting pockets—wallet, smokes, is that my iPod? The phone is lumpier. “Yeah, that was mine. Thanks.” <I start to board the walkway in the other direction.>

Guy: “No, man, here.” <reaches into back pocket, hands me my phone>

Me: “Hey, thanks. Can I give you something?” <big smile in reply>

I hand him twenty bucks. Phone still locked, no data exposed, I’m all good.

Then my brain turns on after he’s gone.

You find something in a casino, and you’re a decent human being, you turn it in at Security. Then the schlemiel who lost it can retrace his steps later.

How’d he know I lost a cell phone?

Scenario 1: guy sees me leave my phone, follows me out, maybe waiting just long enough so I offer him a reward. That’s a little scruffy, but hey, can’t blame him.

Scenario 2: guy sees me leave my phone, takes it, intends to leave with it, runs into me on the way out, and decides it’s faster to fence it back to me than to put it up on eBay. This is kinda seeming more likely.

I’m happy to have the phone back—I’m using it now to get online, and it’d cost me $40 this week just to get net access if I didn’t have it. Phone’s worth maybe $50-$100 (plus the chance to make free calls if you can break my code), and the replacement phone I’m looking at is $300. So at twenty bucks I got off cheap, and it was even Bally’s money.

But still, did I just hand twenty bucks to the guy who stole my phone? That bugs me.

I’m probably going to be noodling on this for a while.